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This year may not be such a cheap one for UK tourists visiting Europe

The value of the pound has been sliding on international currency markets, declining nearly 4% since the start of 2016.

It has been losing ground against the euro for the past eight weeks, its longest downward streak since the single currency was introduced in 1999.

Last week, it hit its lowest level in euro terms for a year. Against the dollar, it has fared even worse, plumbing depths not seen since mid-2010.

Isn't this all rather sudden?

Indeed. As recently as November, the pound was as high as €1.43, but it's been downhill all the way since then. Now it's flirting with the €1.30 mark.

Over the same time period, against the US dollar, it's gone from being worth as much as $1.53 to about $1.43.

That makes it one of the worst performing major currencies, at a time when the UK economy has been considered to be stronger than many of its peers.

After all, it has grown in every quarter since the start of 2013, whereas some eurozone countries are still seeing contractions.

So what happened?

Well, the US Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates in December has highlighted the differences between the US and UK economies.

Last year, there had been an expectation that when the Fed rate rise eventually came, the Bank of England would quickly follow suit.

But now that expectation has faded. The predicted timing of the next UK interest rate rise has shifted - first to late 2016, then to early 2017.

The current record low interest rate of 0.5% makes holding sterling less attractive and encourages traders to sell the currency.

Is that all there is to it?

No, there are other factors at work as well, explaining the Bank of England's reluctance to raise interest rates.

Weak economic data is casting doubt on the future performance of the UK economy, with inflation persistently well below the Bank of England's 2% target and earnings growth slowing down from a six-year high.